Google Gets Rid Of Right-Side Search Ads

Going forward, Google will reportedly no longer show ads on the right side of its search results as it has done as long as AdWords has been a thing. Once a global roll-out is complete, desktop users will stop seeing ads in this area unless it's a query where Google is showing Product Listing Ads (PLAs) or Knowledge Panel ads.

Other than that, all search ads will appear at the top and bottom of the page. In some cases, Google will show four ads at the top rather than the standard three.

You might say that's a lot of ads "above the fold" in relation to non-ad content (something Google has historically frowned upon when it comes to other websites).

Though some users have been seeing the change, and Google has been testing it for years, Google hasn't made an official announcement about it. The company did, however, confirm the roll-out to Search Engine Land on Friday.

Regarding the fourth ad, the company is quoted as saying, "We’ve been testing this layout for a long time, so some people might see it on a very small number of commercial queries. We’ll continue to make tweaks, but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers.”

As you would expect, a lot of people aren't happy about the change. Many have seen better conversions from the right-side ads, and some claim their conversion rates have already plummeted as Google has begun the roll-out.